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MAY 2011
DOWNWIND Racing Association Newsletter
Chairman’s Report…
Diary Dates
May Sat 14:
Short-handed Short Course Series R1
Fri 20:
Boating Friday
Sun 22: Winter Series R1 Sat 28:
Short-handed Short Course Series R2
June Sun 5:
Winter Series R2
Mon 13: Queens Birthday Public Holiday Sat 18:
Short-handed Short Course Series R3
Sun 19: Winter Series R3 (Plympton Cup) Sat 25:
Short-handed Short Course Series R4
July Sun 3:
Winter Series R4
Sun 17: Winter Series R5 Sat 23:
Short-handed Short Course Series R5
Sat 23:
Seafood Night
August Sat 6:
Short-handed Short Course Series R6 & Series Presentation
Sun 14: Winter Series R6 & Series Presentation
Thank you to the racing members, partners and friends who attended our recent Presentation Night, it was one of the largest turnouts to date and, judging by the number of people who stayed around until the wee small hours, a very social and successful evening was had by all. If you weren’t able to attend, rest assured that if we receive the same level of support from our membership next year as we did this year, the aim is to raise the “entertainment” bar even higher so don’t miss out! Congratulations again to Geoff Boettcher and the crew of SMB 3.5 for their Yacht Of The Year accolade and to Adam Common as Crew Person Of The Year. By now most of you would have received communications from Jess regarding our draft racing program for the 2011/2012 Summer season and I hope that you’ve taken the time to return your thoughts via the questionnaire. We will issue our final program once we assess the cumulative feedback as this is, to a certain extent, a democratic process and the suggestions of every member are taken into account. If you haven’t taken a look at the proposed program please look for it on the website and return your comments to Jess who can also send out questionnaire forms for anyone who may have missed the original email. I attended the recent YSA AGM with Craig Evans this week and can report that the club and association delegates who attended were less than impressed with the scheduled YA/YSA fee increases tabled on the evening. A large component of this increase was due to increased YA Insurance levies and a motion was unanimously passed on the evening that YSA express dissatisfaction with this mandatory increase and investigate the alternative that insurance be offered as an option, not a necessity, to YA members. A motion was passed to accept the fee increase as the alternative would have resulted in the disaffiliation of the CYCSA with Yachting Australia. I am unsure as yet what, if any, impact this required increase will have on CYCSA membership fees but will keep you apprised of these processes as they continue to play out. Winter racing has begun, well, sort of. It’s never easy to make the decision to postpone a race but in the case of Race 1 of the Winter Series last Sunday, our choice to do so proved to be correct. The predicted storm arrived with a vengeance and the conditions were certainly dire enough to break boats and people. Those who happened to be near the coast or at the club that day would have witnessed the gales arrive in from the north and build in strength as the breeze clocked around to the south west during the afternoon, it was anything but an ideal day to be out racing. Hopefully we can look forward to better conditions in the races yet to come.
Traci Ayris
DOWNWIND • CRUISING YACHT CLUB OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA RACING EXECUTIVE WWW.CYCSA.COM.AU